The present invention relates generally to image processing techniques and systems and, more particularly, to image processing techniques and systems which can be used to reproduce fine art.
Fine art reproduction has been an area of interest and research for quite some time. Recently, commercial interest in such reproductions has increased due to the availability of affordable, high quality, large format printers that use archival inks and media. These printers enable print-on-demand systems for printing, e.g., poster-size reproductions of fine art (e.g., paintings in an art gallery) that can be customized by the consumer. Moreover, print-on-demand systems enable a much larger selection of available fine art reproductions since there is no need for maintaining a physical inventory of reproductions.
One challenge associated with these print-on-demand systems is the construction of a digital database of fine art material that faithfully represents the original art. To date it has been difficult and time-consuming to create such a large database. One of two approaches is typically implemented to address this problem. One approach is to use automated, hyperspectral systems. These systems capture, process and print more than three channels of spectral data to produce spectrally accurate reproductions. Spectral reproductions match the original artwork over many different illumination conditions and usually do not require manual color adjustments to produce a good match. Such systems, however are based on custom hardware that can be expensive and require trained operators, which limits their use to only the largest museums.
Another approach is to use hand-tuned colorimetric systems based on standard hardware which employs three-channel capture devices. These systems are more affordable, but the captured data must usually be manually adjusted to produce an acceptable reproduction of the fine art being imaged. The manual adjustment of each image requires both a skilled technician and patience, making these systems unfeasible for museums with large art collections.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide image processing techniques and systems for fine art reproduction which overcome these drawbacks.